American film and TV actress Amanda Seyfried (pronounced "Cy-Fred") is most known for playing the dead bestfriend of Kristen Bell's character on the UPN drama, Veronica Mars.She got her big break with her feature film debut appearance in the teen comedy Mean Girls, where she played the dumb but lovable Karen Smith. A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Amanda began her career at age 11, as a model for Wilhelmina Models. Amanda and her mother, Ann Seyfried, juggled school and work schedules to make many trips to New York for casting calls, photo and commercial shoots. While in New York, Amanda performed in various theatre productions including Grease, Wind in the Willows, and A Christmas Carol. She has also done commercial ads for the Lifetime Channel and Sony. Her print modeling ads range from Limited Too to Mizz Magazine. On television, she made her debut as Lucy Montgomery in the soap opera As the World Turns before moving onto the ABC daytime drama All My Children as goody-goody teen Joni Stafford. Her other television credits include Guiding Light and Law & Order: SVU. In 2004, she was cast as Lilly Kane on Veronica Mars and Sarah Henrickson on the HBO drama Big Love after the UPN show was canceled. In film, Amanda landed roles in American Gun (2005), Nine Lives (2005), and Alpha Dog (2007). In 2008, she won the lead role in the movie musical Mamma Mia! opposite veteran actress Meryl Streep.moreless

Quotes (24)

Amanda: (on not wanting to do full-frontal nudity) I'm pretty sure I would never do a full-frontal in a movie - for personal reasons, I wouldn't really want to show that.

Amanda:(On kissing women) I had to kiss Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body, and it was not very comfortable at all. I did it because that was what the story was about, but it's awkward being with a women in that way, trying to make it look natural. I had to do it again with Julianne Moore in Chloe and somehow it was easier with her, but it still felt really strange.

Amanda: Hollywood is just like high school. The popular people only like the other popular people. And the thing is, some people aren't nice - or they're nice, but only to your face, not elsewhere.

Amanda: (On the difference between acting and singing in a movie) Singing is a way of releasing an emotion that you sometimes can't portray when you're acting. And music moves your soul, so music is the source of the most intense emotions you can feel. When you hear a song and you're acting it's incredible. But when you're singing a song and you're acting it's even more incredible.

Amanda: (On whether she would ever consider posing for Maxim Magazine) I hear that they offer you $150,000 to do it and if you're game, you take it. That is not something I will do because it takes your reputation, not to a bad place, but to a different place. But also I don't love my body. I have belly fat like everybody else, and I don't want to be airbrushed on the cover of a magazine. I don't want someone to swap out my stomach with a super model's. I don't want dirty old men looking at me in my underwear. (in 2010, Amanda did pose in the men's magazine Esquire)

Trivia (32)

Amanda has a tattoo on her left foot that says, "minge". It is an English slang term for vagina.

One of the songs on the Dear John soundtrack was written by her. The director asked her to bring her guitar on set and she ended up singing a song she had written. It ended up on the soundtrack.

The casting crew for Mamma Mia auditioned several girls for the role of Sophie. It's even been said that Rachel McAdams and Mandy Moore were considered. Ultimately, Amanda was chosen because they felt she was a humble, normal young actress who gave off the impression that she "didn't spend a lot of time looking at herself in the mirror."

Amanda was considered for the roles of both Regina and Cady in the film Mean Girls, but eventually settled on the role of Karen.

Amanda's favorite place in the world is Greece. She would love to visit there again sometime.